Best Buy Criticized for Geek Squad Trademark C&D Letter

Best Buy was the subject of some intense criticism at the end of last week when Chris Morran of The Consumerist Blog and Mike Masnick of the Techdirt Blog took Best Buy to task and Mike went so far as to label Best Buy a "trademark bully" for sending a cease and desist letter to Newegg for use of the "Geek On" logo shown above and for running a television advertisement poking fun at Best Buy who asserts the advertisement misleads consumers by portraying Best Buy employees as "slovenly and uninformed."

We've previously questioned the scope of rights in Best Buy's Geek Squad mark and whether it has sufficient scope to reach the use of other Geek marks by competitors, given the number of third party marks containing the term for similar goods and services.

Capella Tower | Suite 3500 | 225 South Sixth Street | Minneapolis, MN 55402 Main: (612) 604-6400 | Fax: (612) 604-6800 | www.winthrop.com | A Professional Association A Winthrop & Weinstine blog dedicated to bridging the gap between legal & marketing types. Best Buy Criticized for Geek Squad Trademark C&D Letter Posted on June 13, 2011 by Steve Baird Best Buy was the subject of some intense criticism at the end of last week when Chris Morran of The Consumerist Blog and Mike Masnick of the Techdirt Blog took Best Buy to task and Mike went so far as to label Best Buy a "trademark bully" for sending a cease and desist letter to Newegg for use of the "Geek On" logo shown above and for running a television advertisement poking fun at Best Buy who asserts the advertisement misleads consumers by portraying Best Buy employees as "slovenly and uninformed." We've previously questioned the scope of rights in Best Buy's Geek Squad mark and whether it has sufficient scope to reach the use of other Geek marks by competitors, given the number of third party marks containing the term for similar goods and services. In addition, Dan and I have both discussed the PR fallout relating to Best Buy's previous God Squad trademark flap. I'll have to say, this one leaves me continuing to wonder whether there is sufficient coordination/collaboration between Best Buy's PR and Legal departments. So, how do you come down on this one? Capella Tower | Suite 3500 | 225 South Sixth Street | Minneapolis, MN 55402 Main: (612) 604-6400 | Fax: (612) 604-6800 | www.winthrop.com | A Professional Association Is this legitimate trademark enforcement or another example of trademark bullying? What about the complaint about the television advertisement, does that have merit? It will be interesting to see whether Best Buy files a lawsuit on this one, so stay tuned.

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